Spider Web
by The Fiercesomest Dragon Ever
Summary: Tai and Kari get an email from Izzy about a digimon that somehow got into the real world. Will they be able to defeat it?
1. Prologue

Hey everybody! This is my first attempt at a post-it-as-I-write-it chapter story! I'd love to get some feedback on it; even flames are appreciated if I deserve them!

Note: this story takes place sometime between season 1 and 2. The digidestined all look the same as they did in season one, except TK is wearing his white bucket hat, instead of his green... whatever kind of hat that was.

Another note: don't worry, this _will_ get suspenseful; this is just the prologue, so be patient!

* * *

The chill, fall wind whispered through the leafless branches of the old oak tree standing in front of apartment building A1107 along the deserted street. The last, faint orange colors of sunset washed the city with color.

The sun was definitely setting a lot earlier than last month, Kari Kamiya thought subconsciously as she tried to discern the color of the sunset-framed oak to be either orange, or brown. She sighed and turned another page of her book. It was her assigned reading for the week; and it was boring. Who in their right mind would write a book titled "Broccoli and its many, ingenious uses"? She was lying comfortably on the living room couch, trying not to fall asleep. Gatomon, who was lounging on a purple, beanbag chair in the corner, wasn't making the fight for wakefulness any easier.

"Hey, Kari!" Tai called from the next room, "You've got an e-mail from TK!"

"Coming!" Kari hastily dropped her book on the coffee table, and scurried to the computer. She leaned over the back of her brother's chair. TK had been out of town, visiting his grandparents, for the last week. It seemed like forever since she'd heard from him! "What does he say?"

"Kari, don't forget to make your bed and vacuum the living room." Tai read off the screen.

"Hm?" She blinked, "TK said that?"

"Nah, it's a note from Mom." Tai said distractedly. She had gone out to run errands that evening and wasn't going to be back until late. Tai shrunk the e-mail on the screen and pushed the chair away from the desk, complaining. "Man, why do I always have to do the dishes?"

"You don't _always_ have to do the dishes," Kari said correctively.

"Yeah, Tai. Most of the time you make _me_ do them!" Agumon protested from beside the computer desk, where he was amusing himself by seeing how high he could stack the mess of CD cases strewn about the floor before they collapsed.

"That's just because you eat more than I do!" Tai shot back, clicking on Kari's e-mail.

It was significantly shorter than she had hoped it would be, reading-

**Hey Kari!**

**We're back from Grandma's. I'll tell you about it later. Izzy's trying to get everyone to meet at his house tonight; did you get his e-mail?**

**Your friend,**

**TK**

"Did we get an e-mail from Izzy?" Kari looked down at Tai.

"I dunno." He clicked on their mailbox. There were seventeen messages; fifteen were notes their mom had left, and had never been looked at, one was from some bank, and the last was from Izzy. It was at the bottom of the list, and probably wouldn't have been looked at for a while. Tai clicked on it and read it out loud,

"Tai and Kari, I blah blah blah, usual greeting stuff," Tai scrolled down some, "I recently found…some word I don't understand… evidence that _a new digimon has entered the real world_!" Tai shouted in disbelief, "No way!" he scrolled down some more, "… meet at my house at six thirty. Bring jackets, flashlights, and, of course, your digivices. From Izzy." Tai leaned back from the edge of his seat.

Gatomon stepped into the room, ears pricked forward, "Did I hear someone say 'new digimon?"

Kari looked at the computer's clock. It was six fifteen now, and it took twenty minutes to get to Izzy's.

Always the reckless leader, Tai leaped from his chair shouting, "Oh, man, we're so late! Quick, Agumon! Help me find some flashlights! Kari, grab some extra batteries and our digivices! I'll meet you by the soda machines!"

Tai and Agumon raced to the hall closet to search for flashlights while Kari and Gatomon hurried to the room they shared with Tai. It was sometimes a pain to share a room with her older brother, but she was used to it by now.

"Here are the digivices." Gatomon hopped lightly down from the top bunk holding the two digital devices in her paws. Kari fished a few batteries out of a box of Tai's junk he kept stashed under the bed and put them in her pockets. Clipping her digivice to the top of her pink jeans, she rushed out of the apartment and down the stairs, Gatomon close behind, to the old soda machines in front of the building. Tai and Agumon stumbled down the stairs a minute later, carrying nine flashlights between them.

"We didn't have time to pick out the best ones." Tai grumbled, "Here, take some." He shoved a few into Kari's hands, "Let's go!"

In the early twilight, the two kids and their digimon sprinted down the sidewalk towards Izzy's apartment building.

* * *

There's the prologue! What did you think? Did Ikeep them in character alright? I sometimes have problems with that...


	2. Elevator rides

Okay, in this chapter, Tai and Kari are still trying to get to Izzy's apartment. After this, I promise it will start getting suspenseful!

To my three reviewers;

Vigatus: Thanks! The humor will probably still be around, even when things start getting intense.

Kindom219: Yes, nine. Let's just say, the Kamiya residence is well prepared for a blackout.

animefreak: I love the puppy eyes!

Now, on with the story!

* * *

Tai, Kari, Agumon, and Gatomon arrived at the apartment building at six-thirty exactly. Tai rushed to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button. They all stood, waiting, (and in Tai's case, fidgeting), for a few minutes. 

"Is this elevator ever going to come!" Tai shouted.

"Be patient, Tai." Kari said, "There's probably somebody already using it."

"There's no time for this!" Tai cried frantically, "I'm taking the stairs! Come on, Agumon!"

"Right behind you, Tai!" Flashlights in hand, the two scrambled up the stairs.

Kari and Gatomon looked after them, shaking their heads. Izzy's apartment was on the 34th floor; they would be exhausted by the time they got there. A moment later, there was a 'thump' and a small 'ding', and the elevator door opened. To Kari's surprise, it was full of digimon! Gabumon, Biyomon, Patamon, Gomamon, Tentomon, and Palmon all rushed out, all of them talking at once,

"Come on, Kari!"

"Let's go, Gatomon!"

"Quick, before it leaves without us!"

They pulled/pushed the two into the elevator just as the door closed.

"What are all of you doing in here?" Kari asked as the door of the elevator slid shut.

"We're riding!" Gomamon piped up.

"Yeah! It's lots of fun!" all the other digimon said in unison.

"Ready everyone?" Gabumon jumped up and pressed the button marked 'roof'.

"I thought Izzy's apartment was on floor 34." Gatomon cocked her head slightly.

"Sure it is, but the ride's more fun if we go to the top first!" Gomamon explained.

The elevator started to move.

"Wooooaaaaaauuuuuhhh…" all the digimon crouched down as the elevator traveled upwards. When it reached the top, they all jumped! They landed, laughing hysterically, and shaking the elevator. Kari grabbed the small railing on the wall to keep her balance.

"That can't be good for the elevator." Kari warned.

"Ah, that's nothing compared to what we do on the way down!"

Tentomon flew over the other digimon, "It's my turn to press the button!"

He hit the button marked '34'.

"Here we go!" Gomamon shouted exitedly.

"Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" As they neared the 14th floor, some of the digimon jumped into the air; floating a little as the elevator traveled down.

They arrived at the 14th floor. 'THUMP' all the digimon hit the floor, making the elevator rock dangerously.

A man stood outside the elevator door. He had already pressed the down button, and was waiting patiently for the elevator to come. He looked at the grocery list his wife had handed him, "Eggs, flour, celery, and milk." He could handle that.

Suddenly, there was a dangerous-sounding 'THUMP', and the elevator door opened. Seven little creatures, all laughing uproariously, tumbled out, followed by a very pale girl who made a quick apology to him before running after the creatures.

The man looked at his list again, "Eggs, flour, celery, and milk… and aspirin." He scribbled onto the list as he stepped into the elevator. "I've got to stop putting off my visits to the doctor…"

Izzy's mother answered the door, and the digimon all filed past, greeting her with calls of, "Hello, Mrs. Izumi", "Thanks, Mrs. Izumi", and "You have a great elevator in this building!"

"Why… thank you," she looked confused. Turning to Kari, she said, "Oh, hello, Kari. Are you feeling well? You look pale…"

"I'm alright," Kari mustered up a smile, "Is my brother here yet?"

"No, not- oh! There he is now!"

Kari looked down the hall and watched as Tai and Agumon staggered up the last few stairs, and up to the door.

"Hi… Mrs. Izumi…" Tai wheezed.

"Hello, Tai, Agumon," Mrs. Izumi opened the door a little wider, "Come in. Can I get you anything?"

"No thanks…" Tai stumbled through the door, "Where's Izzy?"

"He and the others are in his room." Mrs. Izumi said, "He told me to send you in when you got here."

"Okay…" Tai started heading in that direction, Agumon close behind.

"Thank you, Mrs. Izumi." Kari said politely before hurrying after them.

* * *

Alright, there it is. Like I said, it's going to get suspenseful from here on! Just count this as prologue number two... 


	3. Plans

Yes! Let the suspense begin!

Thanks, Vigatus and kindom219, for the reviews!

On with the story! Muahahahahahaha!

* * *

The door to Izzy's room wasn't completely closed; a few cords trailed out. Izzy must have run out of outlet extensions and had to plug in the extra cords out in the living room. 

Tai pushed open the door and they stepped inside. It took Kari's eyes a moment to adjust to the dark. The lights were off, but Izzy's computer screens brightened the room enough to see a little.

The entire room seemed to be a mass of computer junk: modems and monitors were everywhere, old computer magazines and long strings of code scribbled onto random sheets of rumpled paper littered the area next to the bed. There was a thin carpet covering the floor, but it was impossible to tell what color it was in the tinted light from the computers.

The other digidestined were already here. Izzy sat at his computer, typing something rapidly, Joe watched, pretending to understand what Izzy was doing, Sora was sitting on the floor, leaning back against a large pile of extra computer parts, with Mimi, pink hat and all, inspecting the same pile.

She ran a gloved finger over an upturned keyboard, "Eww… it's all dusty… Don't you ever keep things clean, Izzy?"

"I don't have time for things like dusting." Izzy replied without looking away from the computer screen, "There are so many other, more important things to take care of."

Matt sprawled across Izzy's bed, head propped up on one elbow, looking cool, and TK sat on the edge of the bed with his legs hanging over the edge.

"Hey Tai," Matt rolled to his feet and gripped Tai's hand warmly, "Long time, no see, huh?"

"Yeah, Matt." Tai grinned, returning Matt's grip, "Seems like forever!"

TK hopped off the bed, "Hey, Kari, check out my new pocket knife!"

He proudly handed her the small knife, "My Granddad gave it to me before we left."

"Wow, TK. That great." Kari admired the knife. She had no idea if it was a good knife or not, but TK was obviously very proud of it. "How do you open it?"

TK demonstrated how to unfold the two and a half inch blade from the handle, "And to close it, you just push this metal thingy on the handle and fold it back in."

"Remember, TK, Granddad said you could have the knife, but you have to be careful with it." Matt reminded his little brother, while fingering the blade of the slightly larger pocketknife he had received.

Mimi was still fiddling with Izzy's dusty pile of computer junk. "Oh, look! A mouse shaped like a mouse! It's so cute; it would look great with your computer Izzy. Or maybe you could get a computer that looks like a mouse, and then the mouse could be its cut little baby mouse! Oh, and look, its little tail is a cord! That's so adorable!" She pulled on the cord a little, dislodging an outdated modem. It released a cloud of dust!

Tai sneezed loudly.

Izzy looked up, noticing them for the first time, "Oh, Tai, Kari, you're here." He said, "Now we can start. Everybody find a place you can see, and, Mimi, stop playing with that old pile of junk. It's all just some leftover stuff from a few years ago; I don't think any of it is still compatible with today's computers. I'm just keeping it to see if I can salvage any of the old parts."

"Oh. Alright." Mimi looked disappointed.

"Okay, can everyone see?" Izzy asked. There was a general nod of agreement from the others. "Good. I want you all to take a look at this." He typed a few strings of code and pressed 'Enter'. A strange grid came up on the screen. It was shaped like the earth, but all the continents were switched around. The grid rotated a few times, and then a small point of red showed up on one of the continents. It flashed for a few minutes, and then disappeared. Izzy ended the program.

"What was that all about?" Tai asked.

"Was that a map of the digital world?" Sora leaned closer to the screen.

Izzy nodded, "That's right. The red dot was a digital gateway that was opened a few months ago. I only found out about it today when I was checking to see if there were any abnormal occurrences in the digital world."

"So a gate to the digital world was opened for a few minutes," Matt said, running his hand through his hair, "what makes you so sure a digimon came through it?"

"Good question, Matt. I'll show you." Izzy typed another string of code. He brought up the grid map of the digital world, and then a grid map of the real world that laid overtop of the digital world grid, "The digital world and the real world line up like this, see?" he explained, "One end of the gate is in the digital world, and the other is over here, in our world." The point of red appeared again, in the real world, it showed up in Japan. "So, even though both ends are virtually on top of each other, there's a little bit of space between the two. I can tap into that space, and monitor anything that moves through it." He clicked on the red point. It enlarged, and turned, to show the space from one end to the other. "I'm starting the recording over," Izzy told them, "Watch and let me know what you see."

Kari watched along with everyone else. For a while, nothing happened. Then a dark blob of pixels appeared in the gateway. It traveled from one end to the other, and then disappeared.

"What the heck was that?" Tai shouted.

Izzy rubbed a hand over his ear, "Not so loud, Tai, I'm right in front of you." He typed something, and the picture of the gateway enlarged. "As for what that was, it was a digimon, duh. I've tried to get a clear picture of it, but it's impossible to enlarge the image without distorting it beyond recognition. All I know is that two days ago a portal to the digital world was opened, and a digimon came through." Izzy brought up a map of Japan, "I've narrowed its location to a wooded area a few miles west of Koriyama. All that's left for us to do is go and get rid of it."

"How do you know it's a bad digimon?" Joe asked. He continued hopefully, "It could be a nice, helpful, law-abiding digimon; like one of ours."

Matt countered casually, "With our luck, it's probably some big, dragon creature with horns and fangs, out to destroy the earth, or something."

"Matt, don't say things like that." Gabumon pleaded.

"I don't mean to scare anybody," Matt shrugged, "it's just, since when do good digimon mess around with gates to the real world?"

"You've gotta admit, he's got a point." Sora said.

"Okay, fine." Joe crossed his arms, "So the digimon _might_ not be good. How are we going to get there? I mean, it's not like our parents are just going to say 'Oh, so you're going on a potentially life threatening mission to stop a horrible, demented monster. That's _fine with us!_'"

"Hey, we could say we're going camping!" TK suggested.

"Nah, then they'd make us bring an adult along." Matt shook his head.

"Joe's fourteen," Patamon ventured, "That's almost an adult, right?"

Kari shook her head. Their digimon never could remember exactly when humans were considered adults.

"Maybe we could sneak away!" Gomamon popped up from behind Izzy's computer desk.

"Hm. I've thought of that," Izzy admitted, "but we can't just leave and let our parents worry about us like that."

"We could leave a note!"

"That would be just as bad…" Kari murmured, "They would still be worried."

No one said anything for a few minutes. Everyone appeared deep in thought, (though most of the digimon were thinking about food), trying to think of ideas.

"We could… um… say we're staying… at a friend's house?" Sora attempted.

"Yeah, but who has friends in Koriyama?" Izzy said, "Our parents wouldn't let us go and stay with some friend they've never seen-"

Mimi cleared her throat, "Um…"

"… before." Izzy finished. Everyone looked at Mimi.

"Well, um," she said shyly, "I have a friend who lives _near_ Koriyama."

"You do?" Everyone asked, "Who?"

"Um…. I can't remember her name…." Mimi said, "but she had the cutest hat! We met in the mall one day, and kind of hung out together for the afternoon…" The others all looked at her incredulously, "My mom thought she was nice…"

"I remember her!" Palmon waved her… hand?… "Her shoes were really cool, too. Your mom gave her a ride to the train station, remember? She would probably let you stay with her, if you asked."

"Well, I guess it's worth a shot." Izzy said, "The phone's in the kitchen. You can use it to call your mom while we think up a plan 'b'."

"I have to call her now?" Mimi looked shocked, "I thought we would have to maybe talk about it some more first."

"We could, but why waste time?" Izzy adjusted the screen of his computer, "We need to get after that digimon as fast as we can to keep it from doing any damage."

"Well, alright." Mimi said reluctantly, "I'll be right back."

She left the room, closing the door almost all the way behind her.

The others sank back into the stony silence of serious consideration.

Minutes later, Mimi returned. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"Well?" asked Gatomon.

"She said it was fine." Mimi said, "I thought it would be better if we went soon, so I said it would be for tonight, and some of tomorrow, is that alright? Tomorrow's Saturday, so we don't have school or anything…"

Tai recovered from the surprise first, "You're mom is letting you stay with a girl you spent the afternoon with in the mall! And you don't even know her name?"

"Well, she didn't remember it either." Mimi said defensively.

"Isn't she worried that you'll get hurt?"

"No." she explained, "I told her that Palmon was going with me."

There was a moment of embarrassing silence in which everyone stared directly at Mimi, trying to discern whether she was joking, or dead serious.

"What?" Mimi looked indignant. She was serious.

"Mimi's parent's responsibilities aside," Izzy said, "This is great! Everyone else, call your parent's and see if you can get them to let you come!"

They drew straws, and Tai got his turn first on the phone. He dialed his mom's cell phone number. It rang once. _Please pick up, Mom_. It rang twice. _Come on…_ It rang three times. _Please please please please_.

"Hello?"

Tai almost dropped the phone, "Uh, hello? Mom?"

"Oh, hello, Tai." His mom's voice sounded almost mechanical on the phone, "What's wrong? Did you get your sleeve caught in the dishwasher again?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I was just calling to ask if it would be alright if we went to one of Mimi's friend's house for a while."

"How long is 'a while'?"

"Er… Tonight and some of tomorrow?" He was hopeful.

"What are you going to be doing over there?"

"Ah, um – oh, you know, Mom, the usual," Tai tried to sound like 'the usual' wasn't a big deal; that it was goofing off and having fun instead of battling with monsters from another world.

"I see. Well, I guess it's alright. Just remember to be polite, and don't forget to be polite."

"I won't. Thanks mom." CLICK. He hung up. "Whew!" He wiped his hand across his forehead, "We're good to go, Kari!"

Twenty-six minutes later, everybody had called their parents and was ready to go; even Joe, who spent ten minutes trying to explain to his brother that he didn't need a ride.

"Okay, a quick check before we go;" Izzy pulled out a list, "does everyone have a flashlight?"

"Yes." Mimi pulled one out of her purse.

"Yeah." Matt held up his and TK's.

"Of course." Sora unhooked it from her belt.

"I knew I forgot something!" Joe snapped his fingers.

"We've got you covered, Joe." Tai handed Joe a flashlight.

"Does everyone have a jacket?"

"Mm-hmm." Mimi wore a light pink sweater.

"We do!" TK said, indicating his blue blazer, and Matt's jean jacket hanging on Izzy's bedpost.

"Yup." Sora wore a purple sweatshirt tied around her waist, (to keep her hands free).

"ERG!" Joe shouted in frustration, gripping a handful of his hair in each fist.

"You can borrow mine," Kari offered, "I don't get cold easily; plus, this is _actually_ my dad's, so it should fit you." She glared at Tai, who grinned sheepishly. Next time, _she_ was grabbing the jackets.

"Last but not least," Izzy said, "Digivices?"

Everyone held out their digivices.

"Okay then." Izzy tossed the list onto his desk, "I have some snacks we can take, just in case. If we catch the eight o'clock train, we can be in Koriyama in an hour." Izzy paused, "Remember, we've got to be ready for anything. There's no telling what kind of digimon entered the real world."

"Ah, we'll be fine, Izzy," Tai said confidently, "We always have been."

"I know." He said gravely, "But we still need to be prepared."

"It would probably be a good idea for us to sleep on the train." Joe suggested, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Yeah, and the digimon should probably get something to eat before we go." Sora added.

"That's a great idea!" Biyomon readily agreed to the idea of food.

"Sounds good to me." Said Izzy.

"Let's eat!" All the digimon raced to the kitchen, laughing and shouting all the way, their partners not far behind.

Kari stayed apart from the rest. She was beginning to get a strange sense of foreboding. She shook her head to try and rid herself of the feeling. Why was she always the one with the sense of foreboding? It was hard to enjoy your friends' company when all the while you feel like a storm cloud is hovering overhead, waiting to burst.

TK approached her, "Do you want something to eat, Kari?"

"No thanks," She said, forcing a smile, "I'm fine."

Her fake smile must not have been very convincing. She looked away. TK touched her hand gently, "Don't worry, Kari. If anything happens, I'll protect you."

"…Thank you, TK."

Their eyes met for a moment, and then TK grinned and ran back to the table to get something to eat before the digimon finished it all.

TK's gesture comforted Kari a little. The cloud of foreboding still remained over her, though.

… _and the worst part about this feeling…_ Kari clasped her hands around her digivice, trying to absorb the small amount of reasurance it could offer her, _is that it's never wrong._

* * *

_Now _a little suspense is going on! Any of you feeling it? Let me know if I'm doing alright! ... or if I totally screwed something up... I'll be glad to know, either way! 


	4. Trains and rotten floorboards

Chapter 4! This chapter starts outa little slow, but I couldn't leave out the train ride, so deal with it.

Please keep reviewing!

* * *

The eight digidestined and their digimon arrived at the station minutes before the eight o'clock train left. They hurriedly paid for their tickets, (they managed to pass off their digimon for stuffed animals, like they usually do, except Matt, who told everyone that Gabumon was a rare breed of dog.), and rushed onto the train. 

The whistle blew and the door slid shut. Slowly the train started to move down the track.

"Whew!" Tai sighed and collapsed onto the cushioned bench along the side of the train, "That was close!"

There were only a few other people on the train; a woman talking on her cell phone, and a guy reading a newspaper sat further down, leaving the benches near the door free for the kids and their digimon to stretch out and rest on.

It wouldn't be a long ride, but as Joe had suggested, they decided to try and get some sleep. There was no telling what kind of night lay ahead of them. Kari volunteered to stay up and make sure they didn't miss their stop, but Matt ended up doing it instead.

"We older kids don't need as much sleep," Matt smiled, "and I'm used to staying up late anyway."

So, Kari sat on the bench and pretended to be asleep. Gatomon curled up on her lap; she was warm and soft and peaceful. The bench wasn't very comfortable. The cushions were threadbare and blue; the color of the seats, in contrast with the steel floor and white walls, made the train seem colder than it was. Kari looked around. TK was asleep next to her, his hat tipped over his eyes, and Sora was stretched out on the bench across the aisle. Her head rested back on her hands and her eyes were closed, but it was hard to tell if she was really sleeping. Biyomon perched on an armrest, snoring gently. Tai and Agumon leaned against each other, in an unusually peaceful way. Agumon may have been asleep, but Tai was definitely awake, (he snored like a buzz-saw trying to tear up a tin roof. Kari knew; it had taken a long time to get used to.). Palmon and Mimi dozed in the seats near the door. Gomamon slept above Joe's seat in the baggage rack, as did Patamon above TK and Tentomon above Izzy, who was awake and working on his laptop.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Matt," Izzy looked up from his computer, "There's no reason for us both to be up."

Matt leaned back against the bench, "Yeah, I know. But I volunteered to stay up, so you should be the one to rest."

"You're right," Izzy said, the keys on his keyboard clicked rapidly, "but I wanted to try and get some more information on this digimon we're hunting. I'm not coming up with anything about what type it is, but I think I've found its exact coordinates on the map."

"So we know exactly where it is?"

"To within a hundred yards." Izzy nodded. "I managed to link to a satellite and scanned the area for any unusual life readings. The digimon's in some kind of clearing in the wooded area west of Koriyama."

"Hm." Matt closed his eyes, "Are we just going to walk there, or what?"

"We'll have to," Izzy shut his laptop, "there aren't any roads that run near this place. It's kind of strange, but I guess it's better that way; less people to risk getting injured."

"That's true." Matt leaned forward a little, "Go ahead and get some sleep, Izzy. I'll let you know when we're there."

"Thanks, Matt." Izzy lay down on the bench.

The rest of the trip was silent, except for Tai and Agumon, who had actually fallen to sleep. Their snoring threatened to wake everybody else. Matt rolled up a magazine he had found under the seat and swatted them both several times. They quieted a little and Matt went back to his seat.

Around nine, the train slowed to a stop. The conductor's voice announced over the intercom that they had arrived at Koriyama.

Matt came around and woke everyone who wasn't already awake, "We're here."

They all stepped off the train and into the Koriyama station.

"Okay, everybody," Izzy said. He pointed to a place on the map he had brought up on his computer screen, "Here's where we need to go. If we keep a steady pace, we can get there in an hour; maybe less if we walk fast."

"We have to walk? Why didn't we just ride the train all the way there?" Mimi complained sleepily.

"The train doesn't go all the way." Izzy explained, "There aren't even any roads, so we'll just have to hike a little. We won't get lost; I have a GPS system on my computer."

"Then what're we waiting for?" Tai stepped forward, his eyes bright with anticipation, "Let's go!"

* * *

**One hour and forty-five minutes later…**

The digidestined stumbled into the clearing.

"Tai, you've got to remember to watch out for briar patches," Sora said.

"I know, but it was dark!" Tai protested, "How was I supposed to know that the path veered straight off into a field of thorns!"

"Maybe you could have just waited for Izzy to tell us what direction to go!" Joe shouted, pulling thorns out of his pants.

"Well, you didn't all have to follow me, you know…" Tai grumbled.

"Woah, look at that!" TK said. Everyone looked.

"What in the world…" Sora's voice trailed off.

Where they thought would be an empty clearing, was a large, spooky-looking house. It looked abandoned, unless the people staying there couldn't afford non-broken windows or a new paint job, and maybe a new roof job, and a new porch job. Heck, the place needed a new _house_ job!

"Prodigious!" Izzy exclaimed, "So that's why the digimon stayed in one place. He must be inside!"

"Who would want to build a house all the way out here?" Mimi frowned, "It's all woodsy; the mosquitoes must be terrible."

"It looks pretty old," said Sora, pointing out the completely obvious, "I bet nobody's lived there for a long time."

"What if it's condemned?" Joe fretted, "We could get arrested for trespassing!"

"We won't get arrested for trespassing," Izzy had un-shouldered the pack he kept his laptop in. He brought up several web pages, "See, this land is public property. We can't get arrested for wandering around here."

"Hey, you guys, are we going to stand out here all night arguing, or are we going in after that digimon?" Matt ran his hand through his hair.

"Can we wait until morning to go?" Kari asked timidly. The uneasy feeling she had earlier had centered itself somewhere in her stomach, making it knot up tightly. She swallowed hard.

"Oh, come on, Kari," Tai ruffled her hair playfully, "You're not scared, are you?"

"I-"

"It would be nice to be able to see what we're fighting, you know?" Joe said nervously.

"That's what we have flashlights for," Matt flicked his on and off, "Besides, I'm sure we can handle one digimon. Right guys?"

There was a chorus of 'yeah's from the digimon.

"Then it's settled." Tai started for the house, "Let's go!"

They made their way through the brush and up to the house. It looked even spookier up close; the broken windows were like the empty sockets of a skull. A floorboard on the porch was missing, leaving a space where all you could see was darkness. The steps creaked and groaned as the digidestined and their digimon stepped up to the door. Kari put her hand on the railing, and it broke away, leaving a rotting piece of itself in her hand. She dropped it hurriedly and scurried up the stairs to stay close to the others.

"EEEK!" Mimi shrieked.

"What is it!" TK shouted, not seeing anything to be scared of.

"I thought I saw a spider…" Mimi whined.

"Oh, come on." Tai slapped his forehead.

"There are probably lots of spiders around here," Sora said, "They're nothing to be afraid of, in fact, they're good to have around. They eat mosquitoes and stuff."

"What if they're poisonous?" Joe scooted away from the crumbling railing.

"I don't like this, Tai," Kari said softly, trying to reassure herself by standing close to her older brother.

"It's just an old house, Kari. Don't be such a little kid." Tai said unsympathetically.

"I don't like it either." Joe pushed his glasses up on his nose, "This floor's in pretty bad shape; it could collapse, or something. Maybe we should go back and wait until morning."

"No way, Joe," Tai snapped, "We're already this far, we should at least take a look around."

"We'll be careful, Joe," Izzy assured, "Nothing bad will happen."

"Nothing bad, huh?" TK swallowed nervously, "Okay. I'm ready to look. Is the door open?"

"Hm, it could be locked…" Tai put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. The knob came right off in his hand, "Oops."

"It's rusted completely off." Izzy said, examining the knob with his flashlight, "Fascinating…"

"Yeah, real fascinating," Tai grumbled, wiping his hand on his jeans, "but how are we going to get in?"

"We could always try the windows," Izzy said, "Or we could-"

"Wait until morning and see if there's a back door?" Joe interjected hopefully.

"No!" Tai, Matt, and Izzy all said at once. They turned back to the door.

Izzy examined the place where the doorknob used to be, "There's got to be a way to open it…"

Sora laid a hand on the door, "Hm. It feels kind of rotten…" She knocked. The hinges, which had rusted long ago, fell completely away, and the door collapsed into the house with a resounding 'CRASH!', leaving Sora standing in the doorway, her hand still raised as if knocking.

"Alright, Sora!" Biyomon cheered.

"Now we can get in!" Gomamon bounced on the creaking boards of the porch, "Great job!"

"Um, thanks." Sora dusted off her hands.

"Enough talk," Tai stepped recklessly into the house. He flicked on his flashlight, "Let's see what kind of digimon we're dealing with."

He swept the room with his flashlight's beam, "Hm…" he looked back, and beckoned to the others, "Don't just stand there! Come on!"

They stepped carefully into the house. Joe and Mimi hesitated just outside the door.

"It looks dirty… can I wait out here?" Mimi asked.

"That floor doesn't look very safe…" Joe mumbled.

"Guys, we need to all stick together," Izzy said, "There's no telling how strong this digimon will be. We need to-"

"Hey," Matt interrupted, "It's fine if they want to wait behind." Matt said, shinning his flashlight on them, "Outside. Alone. In the dark. While we search for a digimon that could be pretty strong," He shrugged, "Maybe it'll come back this way. If it does, make sure to yell really loud so we can get here before it mauls you both. It would be a shame to come back to-"

"On second thought, we should probably all stick together," Joe said, stepping quickly into the house and turning on his flashlight, "Right Mimi? I mean, there's no telling how strong this digimon will be. You might need us."

"Right." Tai nodded, "Now let's see…"

Seventeen flashlight beams probed the room. (All the digidestined had flashlights, plus their digimon, and Agumon was fooling around with one of the extras Tai had grabbed.)

It was dusty, moldy, and cobwebby. The entire house seemed to consist of one room. It was about fifty feet square, with eight windows, two in each wall. There was almost no furniture, though the remains of an old table could be seen near the south wall. The air was very still. A musty carpet covered the floor. And that was all. There was no digimon in sight.

"Hm. That's strange." Izzy murmured. He pulled out his laptop and brought up his satellite connection, "The digimon should be right in here. Unless it's on the roof, but that couldn't be. The roof timbers are probably too rotten to support anything by now." Keys clicked as he typed, "According to this, the digimon should be right about…" he walked to the center of the room, "Here."

Sora walked over to see, "Where?" The others gathered around the computer.

_No._ Kari thought as she looked at the screen.

"Hm. You're right," Sora said, "He'd have to be right above us…"

_No!_ Kari's thoughts exploded with panic she didn't understand as she pressed to get away from the others.

"…or maybe…"

She felt the creak of the floorboards under the group's weight.

"… right below."

There was a sickening, stomach-wrenching 'CRACK', and the sound of wood twisting and splintering, and before any of them could react, the floor of the house gave way into absolute, unfathomable darkness.


	5. Brief encounter

There was no telling how far they fell. It seemed endless.

Falling…

Falling…

Falling…

Down…

Down…

Down…

Into darkness.

Slowly, painfully, Kari came back into consciousness. Surprisingly, she had survived

Without moving, she tried to take stock of her situation. The ground felt like dirt; hard-packed and solid; which raised the question, how did she live through the fall? She shoved this question aside, (the digidestined always survive falls from impossible heights, don't they?), and continued taking stock. It was pitch black all around; even with her eyes open, she couldn't see. She couldn't even tell the difference between opening her eyes and closing them. Maybe she wasn't opening them, maybe she was still dreaming... But she was cold, and that feeling is usually a pretty good sign that you're awake. At this realization, she stirred a little; it would be warmer if she got up and moved around.

Kari gasped, her left shoulder hurt terribly, but she managed to push herself into a sitting position. Her legs were loosely tangled in some kind of chord. She kicked a little to shake it off, but it kind of… stuck. She touched it. It was pretty smooth, and a little stretchy.

"It's a good thing I didn't lose this flashlight in the fall." Kari thought out loud as she reached into her pocket for her flashlight. The sound of a voice in the bitter, pressing darkness was comforting; even if it was her own.

"Silence… we must have silence…" Kari froze at the sound of the echoing whisper. Her heart was beating so loudly, she thought she may have imagined the whisper. The hair on her neck stood on end.

Another chord of the weird, stretchy stuff dropped over her shoulders, making her jump. Nearing the brink of panic, she forced herself to stay calm. For lack of anything less unnerving to distract herself with, she wondered about the strange chord. It seemed to be coming from above. How curious…

Kari turned on the flashlight, aiming it upwards. The first thing she saw were the eyes. They were red, all eight of them, glowing like demonic embers. Then the legs. They were long, and hairy, and black. That was all, for the thing screeched and recoiled from the light as though in pain. Kari was too stunned to move for a moment; and much too stunned to cry out. She shook herself and searched for the creature with the beam of her light. It was gone. Was _that_ the digimon?

She explored the area with the flashlight. There was no sign of the creature She seemed to be in some kind of cave; no, more like a miners' tunnel. Old, wooden support beams criss-crossed the earthen walls, as well as a good many cobwebs. She shone the beam upwards again; they had fallen down a long shaft. At the place where the shaft opened into the tunnel, there was a gigantic tangle of white chord; it looked almost like a giant web of some kind… Kari shuddered. This wasn't the time for scary thoughts. She shone the light around the tunnel. The others were sprawled out on the floor, close together, where they had fallen. But something was missing…

Kari peeled the sticky chord off her legs and shoulders and out of her hair, (ugh…), and hurried to her brother's side. "Tai, wake up." She shook him slightly, "Please, Tai, get up." She glanced nervously around at the other digidestined and their digimon. She played the light across the floor until she found what she was looking for. A small, white, ball of fur. "Gatomon!" Kari knelt to pick up her partner. Gatomon opened her eyes and blinked groggily,

"I guess cats don't always land on their feet…" she murmured, shaking her head as if to clear it, "Where are we?"

* * *

Sorry it took me so long to update... 

I'm having a little writer's block with this story...

Thanks, everyone who reviewed, for reviewing...

And thanks, Vigatus; I'll try and keep an eye on Tai's character. The digimon isn't making him hostile; he was just a little edgy and kind of took it out on Kari. You know how he can be sometimes.

Keep on reviewing, please!


	6. Spiders

Author's note: This story is coming reeeeeeeeeeeeeally slowly. It's going to be a _long_ while before I update again. I just haven't been able to concentrate on it... Sorry...

* * *

As if Gatomon's wakefulness was some kind of signal, the rest of the digidestined started to come around. 

"Ugh, what hit me…" Matt groaned.

Sora sat up dazedly, "Where are we?"

"We appear to be in some sort of cavern," Izzy shone his flashlight around the tunnel, "or rather a kind of underground passageway."

"I _knew_ something like this would happen!" Joe said loudly, "'The floor could collapse' I said, 'it doesn't look very safe', I said. But did anyone listen? Noooooo."

Tai shook his head and sat up, "Relax, Joe. Nobody got hurt." He shone his flashlight around, "See?"

"Woah! Look at that!" TK pointed his flashlight up at the ceiling, "It's like a big spider web!"

"That must be what stopped our fall," Izzy said, "but what kind of spider could make a web so big?"

Before this could be thought over, Sora, who had been looking around the tunnel rather worriedly, called, "Biyomon! Where are you?"

"Sora, what's wrong?" Matt asked.

"I can't find Biyomon!"

There was a momentary pause in the conversation as the others swept the tunnel with their flashlight beams.

"Where are you, Biyomon?" Palmon called.

Their calls echoed eerily into the darkness.

Izzy tried to speculate, "Perhaps she didn't fall with us. Or she could've flown back up to get help." He flashed his beam around the tunnel, "Hey, wait a minute; Tentomon's gone too!"

"Maybe he flew back up with Biyomon?" Gabumon guessed hopefully.

"Why did they go without me?" Patamon whimpered sadly.

TK picked him up, "Don't worry, Patamon. They probably didn't want to wake you."

"Hey, Patamon," Matt kneeled next to TK to be on eye level with Patamon, "How about if you fly up and take a look around? You can tell us if Biyomon and Tentomon are up there."

"Okay." Patamon agreed and took to the air.

Several minutes passed.

"What's taking him so long?" TK asked worriedly.

"It's a way up, and he still has to look around for Biyomon and Tentomon," Matt said coolly. He leaned against the tunnel wall, "He'll be back before you know it; probably with Biyomon and Tentomon."

"Yeah…" TK didn't look very sure of it, though.

"I sure hope so," Gomamon piped up from the ground beside Joe, "I don't want to have to take on that digimon without them."

Several more minutes passed.

Kari, still holding Gatomon, moved closer to her brother, "Tai… after we fell down here… I think I saw the digimon."

"You what!" everyone reacted with relative shock.

Kari related her brief experience with what she supposed was the digimon.

"Hm…" Izzy flipped open his laptop, "Some kind of spider-digimon."

"That would make sense, with all this webbing around," Sora observed.

"I hate spiders… they're so creepy…" Mimi shuddered.

"So, is it, like, a Dokugamon or what?" Tai sat down next to Izzy. He thought back to their experience with the Dokugamon shortly before getting back to the real world.

"I don't think so." Kari shook her head, "It was- it seemed bigger."

"And you said it was afraid of the light." Izzy brought up Dokugamon's profile, "That's not in Dokugamon's description. It looks like we're dealing with a new digimon."

"Ah, we'll squash it like a bug." Tai laughed cockily.

Kari sighed. It was just like him to put on an act like this. Maybe no one else knew, but she could tell that Tai was pretending to be confident when really he wasn't so sure of himself.

--------------

Joe, who hadn't engaged himself in this particular conversation due to an overwhelming fear of poisonous spiders, had been exploring the tunnel. This meaning he took five steps away from the others and shone his flashlight around.

It all looked pretty normal, except for the giant spiderwebs here and there on the earthen walls. Joe played the beam of his flashlight along one of the particularly large webs. In the center of it, there was a small kind of bundle of web.

"Hm?" his curiosity momentarily overcoming his fear of spiders, he walked over to the bundle and started untangling it. The web was really sticky, but he managed to pull it apart enough to partially reveal the object it contained. "Hey guys! Check this out!"

The others looked up, "What is it, Joe?" Sora walked over.

"Look what I found." Joe shone his light on the bundle.

Agumon recognized it first, "Hey! It's one of our extra flashlights!"

"But how did it get in there?" Tai pushed his goggles up higher on his forehead.

"Maybe the digimon knew it had something to do with the light?" Gatomon twitched her whiskers speculatively.

"Perhaps." Izzy examined the bundled flashlight, "Fascinating…"

"Um… I really hate to interrupt you guys… but…" Mimi's flashlight trained on a very large, very menacing-looking spider. It was definitely not the one Kari saw earlier, but it was still as big as Tai's head, hair and all. The arachnid's beady, red eyes glared back at the digidestined and their digimon.

"What the heck is that!" Tai exclaimed. Everyone shone their flashlights at it. The spider seemed to narrow its eyes, as if sizing them up.

"It's most probable that this is the offspring of the spider digimon that got in here." Izzy deduced, "Either that or more than one digimon came through the gate. Or maybe it's some kind of attack?"

"That's great and all," Tai said, "but what are we going do about it?"

"It hasn't done anything to us," Sora brushed the hair out of her eyes, "Do we just attack it? I'd hate to make it mad if it's not going to hurt us; it looks pretty mean."

"Maybe it's not as evil as it looks?" Joe suggested. Gomamon took to this idea,

"Hey, yeah!" he hopped over to the spider, (which was only slightly smaller than he was), "Whaddya say? Friends?" Gomamon held out his hand, (if you can call it that).

The spider hissed, barring its fang-like mandibles. It leaped forward and snapped at Gomamon, who jerked back, "Hey! I was just trying to be nice!"

A high-pitched clicking sound issued from the spider.

Several minutes passed. Nothing happened. The spider kept clicking.

Gatomon twitched her ears backwards; her sensitive hearing was taking a beating, "What, does it think we can understand Morse-code or something?"

"Um, guys…" Sora shone her light a few feet beyond the spider. It was another spider, exactly like the first one. It was quickly joined by three others, and moved out of the light.

Flashlights flicked about the tunnel, searching for the spiders.

"I found them!" TK had three in his flashlight beam.

"There over here!" Agumon pointed his light at another three.

Sora had another twelve or so of the giant, red-eyed spiders illuminated behind the group, "I'd say this situation just went from bad to worse."

They were surrounded.


End file.
